A San Diego man who ran a methamphetamine cross-border smuggling operation was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in federal prison.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Terrance Deandre Ellison, 43, arranged for drug addicts to travel into Mexico and cross back over the border with meth either inside or strapped to their bodies.
The smugglers were paid in either cash or drugs upon delivering the product to Ellison on the U.S. side of the border.
Prosecutors said Ellison tried to smuggle drugs himself after a number of his “body carriers” were arrested. That led to his May 2020 arrest, when he attempted to cross at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry, but was apprehended with meth packages concealed inside his rental car.
Ellison was convicted by a jury last year of four counts, including conspiracy to import the drug.
– City News Service